Hello, everyone! Mike was great at the forum on Wednesday, but the forum was a little bit of a love fest and everyone patting each other on the back except for Mike who kept trying to bring up the real issues facing all of us today-- incompetent MEB/PEB boards, long time delays, not using VASRD ratings, etc. The moderator cut him off at one point, but Mike still let everyone know that there are still major problems even though some progress has been made. Some of us expressed to the panel that we were tired of funding for new initiatives when they cannot even staff and execute the initiatives that VA and DOD already have. Lots of volunteer agencies spoke up that they have tried to work with VA to provide items and services (Segways, free med. flights, etc.) but working with the VA is impossible because of the red tape, and that they have a hard time letting people know about their services. There is a website that is going to offer a state by state list of all the local, state, and national charities and government offices set up to provide assistance to families, soldiers, and vets. Maybe Mike can provide the email address as I couldn't hear all of it.
We, hubby and I, were told that the AW2 program is in contact with all its soldiers. After the speech, I let Col. Jim Rice know that this was incorrect as Hubby registered online with AW2 in January, and he registered again in person at our local program office in June, and we had not had any contact with our case manager since that day. We were not the only ones to call him on this. Needless to say, today we have gotten three phone calls from our local AW2 office. Apparently when you fill out the paperwork, the computer then assigns you to a case worker. The explanation so far is that BOTH times he registered, the computer never assigned him to a case worker. If you have not had contact with an AW2 case manager, they are supposed to contact you at least once a month, but the ideal is more frequently than that.
I have a call into Dr. Davis' office, she is heading up a new DOD/Va task force to ease the process. I asked if according to Sec. Peake's statement that those diagnosed with PTSD on active duty are not supposed to have to fill out the paperwork that VA sends to prove that you have PTSD, then why is VA still saying it needs to be filled out. I'll get back to you on that.
The other good speaker in my opinion was Sec. Peake of the VA. He seemed very realistic about the shortcomings of VA and seemed committed to fixing them. There are lots of good programs out there that I had never heard of and still haven't figured out how to access them. VA is trying to remedy this. Supposedly, they are creating a link page to services.
Look for upcoming articles in the different military times papers and the Baltimore Sun. Hope this helps!
Embalmers wife